Cardiologists Say 'Heart Watchman' Implant Could Be Breakthrough For Patients On Blood Thinners

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — Some cardiologists say it's a game changer: a tiny implant that could help some heart patients get off blood thinners for good.

Mary Thomeson, 77, is among the first Southern California patients getting the heart implant recently approved by the FDA.

Thomeson has atrial fibrillation, a condition that drastically raises her risk of blood clots and strokes.

CBS2/KCAL9 was there Monday morning as doctors in Santa Monica performed what they're calling groundbreaking surgery.

"I'm anxious. I'm apprehensive," she said before going under. "I was on a blood thinner and had a very serious bleeding episode, and then they were reluctant to give me a blood thinner again, so I had a stroke."

Doctor's hope the Heart Watchman, a parachute-like device, can safely get Thomeson off blood thinners for good.

Shephal Doshi of Providence St. John's in Santa Monica explains it works by blocking blood flow to an area of the heart that triggers most strokes.

"This is the first time a device has been approved that can actually replace a blood thinner," Doshi said.

"Everyone is aware we have an appendix in our gut. Well, we also have an appendix in our heart. Blood can get caught up in this pouch," he explained, "and can swirl around and cause blood clots."

To get the Watchman where it needed to be for Thomeson, doctors threaded it through a catheter that ran from her groin to her heart.

Once in place at the opening of her heart appendage, the mesh parachute was opened.

"We actually seal off the pouch so that patients don't need blood thinners afterwards," Doshi said.

He added that the Watchman isn't easy to remove, so patients need to be certain they really need it.

"Once it's in, it's in there forever," he said.

For Thomeson, who'd suffered both a stroke from blood clots and serious bleeding from medication, the decision was a no-brainer

"I think I'll be having a more normal life. [I'll be] less concerned about falling. And I can really focus on getting my left side working well again," she said.

Complications can include bleeding from the surgery itself, and doctors say there's a small risk the implant could dislodge.

Thomeson had surgery at 8 a.m. Monday.

A hospital spokeswoman told CBS2/KCAL9 she is doing well and will likely go home Tuesday.